#but coding is genuine real magic

[megalunalexi-aesthetic]

Hmm.....

Gods, posts like these really make me want to make my own AI (I'm an artist and amateur coder, bear with me)

The thing that makes me saddest is that I think AI could be really fun and creative and collaborative. It can also absolutely be art and take effort, in that the coder creates it with effort and skill.

Imagine an AI which had an attached gallery to every image, so you can go see what it referenced. Imagine everything in it - art, photos, the descriptions - was all donated voluntarily, with credit every time it made something. Imagine if it was allowed to create the weird shapes AI is prone to, rather than being shoved closer and closer to realism.

If it stays small, then it makes no impact, completely harmless. If it gets bigger, it would potentially introduce people to new artists, combine things which never would have been combined by a human, and genuinely make art a human is incapable of making (I fucking ADORED the weird shit the early AIs were coming up with!!)

The saddest thing about AI is that it COULD have been actually cool, it WAS cool for a long time (VQGAN+clip, anyone?), and like everything else capitalism ruined it.

It doesn't HAVE to be nothing, it's just had the soul sucked out like everything else seems to.

ai generated images make me increasingly sad and tired the more i see them in more and more casual contexts. i dont know how to explain, but it just fills the world with a bunch of nothing. no matter how visually stunning the pictures might be, there's nothing behind it for me. no dedication, no emotions, no feelings, no hard work or creativity, nothing i can truly think about, admire or enjoy. i dont think thats how art is supposed to be

[liuisi]

just got reminded of as long as the lemon trees grow and im STILL mad about that book

[salemlunaa]

｡o○ it’s just meditation ○o｡

you’re not getting what you want because you don’t understand that

no, it’s not magic. no, it hasn’t been unheard of before the days of social media. no, it’s not role play. no, millions of people, some of which don’t even have social media, aren’t coming together to lie. no you’re not a loser because you haven’t shifted yet, you have time. no, you’re not going anywhere. no, your soul isn’t lifting to the higher place of power. no, it’s not a dark place where a genie is in the corner doing your bidding.

it’s just meditation

its a meditative state that you induce: a state of consciousness you reach through meditation. you are just setting intention’s without the barrier of the 3d, that’s it, you aren’t conjuring any thing up with magic, you are setting intention. And when you leave this state of pure consciousness those intentions will come into fruition, and stay that way.

Let’s say your life is a game, and in this game you have a certain body and you want a new one, you want your avatar to change. You’re not conjuring up a new body out of nowhere, you go to the game’s coding space and you moderate things, you set an intention for it to come out in the game. You aren’t leaving the game, you aren’t going to a whole new computer, you aren’t making a new body out of thin air, you’re just setting intention, in this state of total control.

And the only, quite literally the only reason that some of you can’t wrap your heads around how easy it is to induce this is because of society, that’s the only reason, for so long you get told that you must work for all you have and that life isn’t fair and that if something is illogical (by society’s measure) it isn’t real, and i say by society’s measures because inducing a state of consciousness with meditation can be backed up by logic so quickly but people hear the word “manifestation” and decide to write it all off as a joke or unreal.

But let me tell you that resistance, created by what you’ve been taught is the only reason you’re finding it hard, not because the void works for everyone else but you. Not because you keep falling asleep, not because you “just can’t”, it’s because of resistance.

you could have everything you’ve ever dreamt of right now because a meditative state of pure consciousness is all it is, and it’s so easy to induce.

If you go into it with this mindset that you need to put in effort, you will sit there for 20 minutes with your “instant method” wondering why you’re “trying so hard” (immediately no) and nothing is happening. If you go into it with a mindset that when you shift consciousness you get all these symptoms and it’s this whole extravaganza where your soul lifts out of your body, you’re going to be sitting after the 30th minute repeating the same tired affirmations wondering why you just can’t do it.

you don’t need effort, breathe, affirm “I AM” or daydream, or just focus on the darkness of your eyelids and you’re good to go. you’re doing everything right, don’t double check, why would you need to? you’re a god and you’re doing everything right in your reality.

your mind is genuinely an amazing place that makes all these things possible, it’s sounds too good to be true for you and that’s where you go wrong. you don’t have to spend weeks reprogramming your views on pure consciousness, just trust that you are that powerful and you can do those things. because you can, whether you like it or not your mind just is that powerful. No one’s mind is more powerful than someone else’s just because they managed to induce pure consciousness earlier. Your mind is just insanely powerful, that isn’t up for speculation or debunking, it’s just fact.

remember there’s no trial and error for a god, you just do and you just be. you succeed at everything,

go in there with that confidence.

🩰🍵 it’s nothing special, when you get that, you’re good to go.

[nianeyemystic]

💕Lovergirl(boy) Astro Observations💕

These will be aspects, and placements that I've noticed in natal charts. I loooooove a real romantic, someone who yearns, is devoted & deeply feels love in all things.

Venus in Pisces 🥰

Venus in its exaltation is dreamy, romantic, and selfless in love. W this placement, you will embody unconditional love and often romanticism, and idealize your partners. The women I've seen with Venus in Pisces are literally lovers personified. They will find anyway possible to love you downnnn!

Moon in Libra💋

Libra , mm mm mm! Everyone loves a libra. With the moon here you have loves for harmony, balance, and partnership. The Moon here makes someone emotionally fulfilled by being in a loving relationship. You could feel like you're always longing for love, or wanting to be love by somebody.

Venus in the 7th House😘

The love of my life has this placement. Very ideal romantic person to be in love w . Courtship, super sweet gestures, omg & soooo charming. A real flirt too. Venus loves being in the house of partnerships,7H. Having this placement will indicates someone deeply committed to love and romantic connections, prioritizing their partner's happiness.

Neptune in the 5th House💛

This placement gives meeeee, an idealistic and almost cinematic approach to romance. Like think Movie scene, the most romantic movie you've ever seen type of romance. you might fall in love with the idea of love itself. a real lover girl/boy if you will.

Sun or Moon Conjunct Venus❤️‍🔥

Whewwww ! ✨ This aspect is almost always a loving, charming, and affectionate person. My man has this one in Capricorn & it’s so 😍🥺 he literally just loves to be so genuine & cute all the time. I melt all day long being w him. Somebody who is just all around a sweetheart, and can charm the socks off of you lol. They thrive in relationships and tend to attract love easily.

Venus in Cancer💌

Another fav of mine. This placement clearly is a nurturing, protective lover. Being in cancer, Venus will seeks emotional security and closeness in relationships. They adore being needed by their partner. Like I want to be needed by you, is a love language.

Juno in the 1st or 7th House💜

Made to be a wife, wet wife coded energy. Or husband energy. Since Juno, the asteroid of commitment and marriage, in these houses suggests someone who naturally prioritizes long-term partnerships.

Venus Trine Neptune 💞

This aspect is so damn cute to me. It creates a hopeless romantic who views love as magical and transcendent. I loveee seeing this in charts. They’re likely to idealize their partners and put their all into relationships. All or nothing type lovers.

Moon in Taurus💖

The Moon is exalted in Taurus, these natives who seeks stability, sensuality, and comfort in love. They're devoted and loyal to their partner. Grounded lover girls/boys.

Venus Conjunct Mars❤️‍🔥

Last but not least, my fav one. I have this natally & when I say love is alllll I think about. I mean it. I just love love in a sense that consumes me, it drips down my aura. You can quite literally squeeze love from outta me. Such a passionate aspect that combines love and desire. someone who puts their heart and soul into their romantic pursuits. They often have an irresistible charm and thrive on intimacy.

Do you have any of these ? What does love do to you?

@nianeyemystic

[golvio]

I think the reason why the Utena finale always kills me is because that sweet, helpful, selfless little girl who gave her life for her brother without hesitation, even if she didn’t understand what that actually would mean for her for the rest of eternity, had been in that coffin the whole time.

Anthy insists that she’s soiled and ruined because of her abuse at Akio’s hands, and she genuinely believes it. She sees herself as a wreckage of that past innocent self, who lived when things were Better and died when they stopped being Better, and now what’s left is unsalvageable junk. A “fallen woman,” only capable of acting selfishly and cynically in the service of a man who no longer loves her, who deserves to be hurt again and again for her impurity and her foolishness in clinging to him, who cannot survive in the world outside.

And yet, upon waking up, the very first thing her “true,” unguarded self does is scream at Utena to run, to save herself, to leave her behind.

That selfless little girl never left, not even when she grew up into a jaded, tired young adult. She was always there. All the swords in the world couldn’t kill her. Akio couldn’t kill her. Not even Anthy herself could kill her, not with all the denial and repression and magic in the world.

And in the end, that little girl finally experienced the unconditional love she’d always been hoping for, the kind she’d always deserved but never received from the one she’d sacrificed herself for. And that tiniest glimpse of real love and real happiness was enough to help her escape from the prison she’d been trapped in her whole life, join hands with that tired and jaded old witch who’d spent what felt like eternity trying to bury her, and walk free.

All girls are like the Rose Bride, sure. Some boys are, too. Touga shared enough of Anthy’s trauma at Akio’s hands that he eventually got a sword pulled from his own chest, even if he was forbidden from wearing the bridal outfit because a boy wearing a suitable gown for the role would be against the Ohtori Academy dress code. However, the flipside of that is that if there’s hope for even the most hated little girl in the whole world, there’s also hope for the rest of us.

[claraswritings]

Reader opens a bookshop opposite the Bear. Her and Carmy meet and she holds back cook books for him and he cooks her food 😭

Omg cute 🥰 I put a bit of a twist on this one I hope you don’t mind but blurb btc

No TW just fluff

You’d been in the city for a little over two months when had met him. Carmen Berzatto.

He’d stumbled in, slightly pink in the cheeks looking for a book about a ‘magical pony’.

You’d given him a smile, small and tweaking at the corner of your mouth and pointed off to the colourful section down around a corner

“First display in the kids section. If you get lost it’s directly under the inflatable unicorn”

“Thanks” he ran a hand through a mess of curly hair and took off.

“It’s not for me” he told you when he’d returned with it in hand, some of the glitter from the cover now stuck to his patchwork jacket.

“I’m not one to judge.” You stated matter of factly. Even if it was for him, a grown man buying a unicorn book would not be the weirdest thing you’d seen.

“I promise it’s for…my cousins kid. I mean he’s not actually my cousin…but he’s…”

You looked amused.

“Okay, I believe you. Thousands wouldn’t” you teased as you slipped the pink sparkly book into a bag and handed it over.

“Is this place new?” He asked as if it had just dawned on him this was no longer the carpet shop it used to be and you raised your eyebrows.

“About two months.”

He let out a low whistle and nodded “I’m…Carmen, Carmy…I own erm…” he stopped and gestured out of the window hoping he sounded better out loud than he did in his head.

“The Bear?” You asked and when he tilted his head in confusion “I know. I’ve seen you come and go. It’s a big window.”

He winced even though it didn’t sound like a dig.

“Sorry, I would have said hi sooner, I’ve not…I’ve not been with it. Busy getting ready to re open.”

He winced again. You’d obviously not long since opened too.

“It’s okay” you said in the same way you’d said ‘I’m not one to judge’ and Carmy weirdly liked that. “I had a sandwich there a while back…when I was viewing this place. Maybe I’ll come in sometime.”

The way you said it was genuine. Not in the placid, token sentiment way people said it. You sounded like you mean it

“I’ll, uh, lemme know and I’ll sort you a table.”

****

It went on like this for a little while.

He’d started coming in every few days, mostly following Eva and Richie in.

“Ah, the cousin and his daughter are real.” You’d quipped the first time. “See I held back the new unicorn book thinking this guy was a secret fan…” you winked at Carmy before pausing “Guess I’ll have to give it to this little lady!” You passed Eva over a book which she ran off excitedly with

Richie had given you a nod and a “Thanks sweetheart” before slapping Carmy on the back and following his daughter off to the kids table.

The look he gave Carmy did not go unnoticed by you. Almost as soon as they were out Richie had turned to him with this shit eating grin

“Wonder why you wanted to go in. Real obvious cousin.”

“What? Was I?? Do you think she noticed?” Suddenly Carmy felt about sixteen and awkward again, as he glanced over through the window at you.

Richie clipped him around the head with the book “Just ask the nice lady out, fucko”

***

“Carmy!” You’d grinned when he’d come in a few days later. “I kept you a present”

He raised an eyebrow “Uh, yeah, you mentioned something about…” you paused not wanting to butcher the French pronunciation. “A French evening? At your place?”

You ducked behind the counter and picked up the hardback book, placing it on the counter with a dramatic drop.

“Here.” You pushed it towards him

It was a famous chefs latest book. Full of recipes and inspiration from his upbringing in Marseille and about his three star restaurant in Nice. “This is signed.” Carmy’s eyes widened

“Yes. I know” you tilted your head to the side and watched him flip through it. “Is that like…against some kinda chef code or something.”

“Chef code?” Carmy raised an eyebrow “Like scouts honor?”

You shrugged “I dunno. Just you look confused by the prospect of a signed book.”

“No…it’s just…I can pay for it” Carmy started looking around in his wallet and you raised your eyebrows

“Don’t worry about it”

“Are you sure? It’s signed. This is like having a…book signed by…”

“By him?” You tapped the cover.

“By like…Tolkien or something” Carmy continued “Shit analogy I know.”

“No I get it. He’s like some type of chef Tolkien”

“Yeah.” Carmy nodded

“So he’s good?”

“He’s one of the best. This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. You know he never signs right? I think he’s uh… like a recluse?” Carmy held up a hand“Hold on okay? I’ll be right back”

Right back was twenty minutes later. He entered holding out a plastic carton

“It’s the… I brought you some?” He ran his hand through his hair wondering if it was weird. “It’s not how I’d usually plate it.”

“I know. Thank you” you said and he noticed your slow reassuring tone and in his mind he heard Richie again, berating him for not asking you out

“Uh next time…How about I don’t bring you food. How about I take you out. Properly.”

“I think I’d like that”

[ckret2]

What’s ur favorite GF character you almost never see mention/art of?

Lately as I've been digging more into Gideon's character in order to write him, I've actually been getting genuinely fond of that kid.

There's a lot to work with! He's the season 1 main villain and the villain with the most appearances, he does real magic, he's right on the cusp of forming a full cult around his fake magic, he's been earning his family's money since age 9 at least, he bonds with Mabel because they both like beautiful sparkly things—there's a side to him that vibes HARD with Mabel that she felt too that gets buried when he romance zones her, and it's a huge loss for both of them—he had the exact same "found a Journal and got obsessed with its magical/paranormal secrets and went to extremes trying to dig to the bottom of this mystery" story as Dipper but we never SEE that story because it's all offscreen and that's a WILD plotline for a kid coded as (Raised To Act Like) A Good Little Conservative Christian Boy, he's as much Ford's indirect protégé-in-absentia as Dipper was,like, he has nearly as much to flip out about re: the Ford reveal as the actual Mystery Shack household does, he's the only other person in town who understands the gravity of that, AND HE'S ALSO Stan's nemesis, which is WILD, they BOTH look goofy for considering the other their nemesis—he's summoned and betrayed Bill Cipher TWICE and lived to tell the tale, he went to WHOLE ADULT JAIL as a TEN YEAR OLD and formed a BIKER GANG that follows him just because they adore him and he brightens up their lives... There is so much! Going on with this kid! He's SUCH a fun & fascinating character, he can be an interesting foil to ALL the Pines in different ways and he's got the second deepest relationship with the main villain out of the whole cast just in terms of how much we can assume they interacted with each other...

But for a main villain and one of the most frequent recurring characters, Gideon gets next to no fandom attention. When I search his tag, nearly every post is about the whole ensemble cast with Gideon just happening to be included too; i can scroll for pages and only see 2 or 3 posts that are actually about GIDEON.

I'm assuming it's because he's chubby and has a goofy pompadour.

[siswritesyanderes]

i mightve asked this before, in which case go ahead and ignore this lmao. which characters would be the best vs worst when handling an autistic darling?

Oooh, this is a cool question! I would say it depends on the particular symptoms the person has, so I'll go over some symptoms and which yanderes would respond best vs. worst.

avoidance of eye-contact

Obviously, shy, autistic, or autistic-coded yanderes would work really well with this (and other) symptom(s). Your Donatello's, your Newt's, arguably your Peter Parker's. Also, yanderes who are able to sense when their darling's attention is on them supernaturally or just out of sheer social aplomb. Elves, for example, would be great with someone who doesn't like eye contact, because their body language conventions differ as a result of being able to communicate mentally.

Roxanne Wolf would be distinctly bad for this, based on her need for attention as demonstrated in Help Wanted 2. But she's also not beyond reason when it matters, as we've seen in Ruin DLC, so I'm sure communicating about it is on the table.

sensory reactivity

Okay, I think Dr. Strange would very specifically be bad for this, because his movies are all swirling kaleidoscopes of magic that would definitely be sensory overload in real life, and I have mentioned before that I don't see him as a considerate yandere. If anything, he might enjoy inducing sensory overload for the express purposes of making his darling require comfort, care, and isolation from others.

On the other hand, and maybe a weird pull for this, but Zafrina from Twilight would be great. Alec, too. Both have powers that would be super helpful when darling is overwhelmed.

Druig is able to just make everyone nearby shut up, which he would employ liberally.

food sensitivity/pickiness

Yanderes who enjoy cooking could go both ways on this. I could see some being offended by negative feedback and some taking it as being gifted with the challenge of meeting their darling's standards. Teruteru from Danganronpa and Esme from Twilight would both probably be good about receiving feedback and making changes. Super eager to please. Esme more so than Teruteru; he might get offended at first.

Rich and royal yanderes would delight in someone picky. They would love to be able to send food back with new, highly specific orders because darling doesn't like grapes with soft spots. Your Tony Stark's, your Byakuya Togami's, your Toph Beifong's, your Coriolanus Snow's.

Ralph from DBH would be a problem. He has a very weak grasp on what humans eat and a very high sensitivity to negative feedback. (Wait, he's just like me...)

resistance to changes in routine

This one would be a problem for yanderes who feel a need to go on adventures and trips with their darling. Which isn't necessarily the same as adventurous yanderes. Some adventurous yanderes might enjoy the idea of their darling staying behind at home keeping to a comfortable routine. But the ones who want their darling along on the adventure would be problematic. The Doctor, for example. Especially Eleven; he gets bored easily.

Whereas I think a lot of superheroes would like the idea of keeping their darling sequestered away, living predictably and comfortably. Clark Kent, Steve Rogers, Druig...The only catch is that some of them (Druig) would probably be a bit condescending about it.

I think Daycare Attendant would be great for routine. Coloring time, snack time, naptime, same time every day, sign them up! Also condescending, but they genuinely can't help it because it's how they're programmed.

Technically, Phineas and Ferb keep to a very specific routine, albeit a pretty tiring/potentially overwhelming one.

sorting things

This would be great for the disorganized genius character type. A Bruce Banner, if you will. An organized genius probably already has a system and might have trouble with someone sorting things differently than they have them. A distinctly slovenly character probably wouldn't mind either way.

hyperfixation

Yo, Queen from Deltarune would be the best for this. She would create an inescapable palace of the thing darling likes. Swatch and the Swatchlings would be involved.

stimming

There might be a problem if the yandere is easily distracted and needs to focus on something else. The main one I can think of who fits that description is Percy Jackson. That's not a distaste thing; just a pragmatic issue. Yanderes who experience sensory overload might also have an issue with it. My first thought was Queen Elsa.

On the other hand, Leo Valdez would love to make little stim toys for his darling. Donatello, too.

[reguluskeys]

Silly Marauders Headcanons

i posted all of these to my tiktok a while ago, felt like reposting them here !!

click keep reading to see them all <3

James Potter

Cannot spell at all, gets points docked off essays all the time for lack of proper spelling

Writes reminders on his arm and STILL forgets them

Very interested in muggle things, constantly asking Lily, Mary, and Remus how muggle things work

Sirius Black

Loves to scared Filch by running around as Padfoot and randomly barking

Can’t swim at all, refuses to learn because it would mess up his hair

Loves to sit outsides and watch the stars, it was what he planned for his and Remus’ first date

Remus Lupin

“Casanova of Gryffindor Tower” but he has no idea, thinks everyone is looking at him because he’s weird

Sits in the most uncomfortable positions known to MAN. nobody understands how he is comfortable

Very fidgety, always doing something with his hands, his favorite it playing with Sirius’ hair

Peter Pettigrew

Incredibly smart, just doesn’t know how to apply the information he knows

Has an irrational hate towards Pandora because she beat him at chess once

Loves to collect interesting looking leaves

Lily Evans

Loves braiding people’s hair and adding ribbons or other hair accessories to them

Has always enjoyed fantasy books since she was really little and was absolutely ecstatic when she found out magic was real

Loved to dance, doesn’t matter the music or if there even is any, will dance basically anywhere

Mary Macdonald

Loves doing people’s makeup, her favorite canvas is james because of his long eyelashes

Genuinely loves quidditch and finds it very interesting, but doesn’t want to play even if she’d probably be good at it

Absolutely beautiful singing voice, has sung Marlene and Lily to sleep many times

Marlene Mckinnon

Absolutely adores animals, has always thought very hard about what her animagus would be

Also shit at spelling but better than James

McGonagall’s favorite because she was so sweet her first year (Marlene has a crush on her and didn’t know)

Regulus Black

Very sentimental, has a box of things with his most important memories

Loves swimming, makes him feel more calm

Jealous of how smart Sirius is because unlike him he has to actually put in the work to get good marks

Dorcas Meadows

Loves making jewelry, will make them for her favorite people

Loves writing short stories and poetry, doesn’t have the patience to write for very long though

Casanova of Slytherin Tower. I will not be elaborating.

Barty Crouch Jr.

Incredibly good at reading people, to the point it’s almost scary

Very clumsy and on many occasions has woken up on the floor without realizing he fell

Very advanced vocabulary but doesn’t use proper grammar because it pisses everyone off

Evan Rosier

Very clean person, showers every night, incredibly organized, etc.

Not a very touchy person but gives the best hugs when he knows they’re needed (or unless it’s Barty.)

Hates reading, absolutely DESPISES it, no real reason he just can’t bring himself to enjoy it

Pandora Rosier

Loves making code languages; Regulus, Dorcas, and especially Evan understand them but Barty doesn’t and it pisses him off

Her favorite pastime is walking around outside barefoot by herself

Loves climbing on things; trees, people, counters, doesn’t matter, the higher the better

[charmedreincarnation]

hi i’m sorry for this small rant. i really hope you reply to it because i’m spiralling so bad. i have been listening to v powerful luckiest girl and get all your desires instantly forced subs and i had two really bad days and overall my life feels so shit and i feel like nobody gives a shit about me feel left out with my friends and am really regretting some past choices i have made as in subjects i chose to study. why do subs not work on me ever? i detach but subs just don’t work for me idk what should i do i want to enter the void and live my better/dream life but i keep failing and i’m so spiraling so hard rn. i am not even seeing small success i can’t even manifest my acne away or to grow a few inches how will i enter the void and magically change my life entirely. please help me out. how do i manifest or enter the void as soon as i can. i am being delululu living in 4d but yes ik if i am truly living in the end i shouldn’t have doubts but it’s been so many months when will i see results in my 3d. manifestion should be instant right. i’m sorry for my negativity i hope you have a great day

Hi love! I feel like any of this could be answered in another ask, but you seem really worried, so I'm going to answer it anyway!

First and foremost, you are allowed to have doubts. Just because you have doubts doesn't mean you're producing those thoughts. From a psychological perspective (which aligns with LOA), our thoughts are not entirely our own. This is a scientific truth, whether you believe in LOA or not. Scientists say that our thoughts are influenced by external factors such as our environment, upbringing, and the thoughts of others. Sound familiar? They also claim that we have the power to change our thoughts and create our own reality by consciously choosing the thoughts we entertain. So, just know that you're going to have doubts until the end, but as long as you categorize them as random thoughts and not your own beliefs, they don't matter! For example, if someone dressed as Chucky the doll jump-scared you and you started having "scary" thoughts about it, that doesn't mean you actually believe Chucky is real and coming to get you. You have psychological responses to certain things that have been ingrained and coded in you for a while now. What LOA does is help us intercept these false messages and reframe them as "useless" instead of messages we encode in our mind and assumption.

I've always been interested in psychology and neurology, and even though it doesn't directly relate to your question, it's important to mention that you do have a brain, and your brain is wired to act in certain ways. Once you're aware of why you're acting and believing certain things, it becomes way easier to understand that the 3D world is malleable. I really suggest reading books by authors like Joe Dispenza so you can understand yourself better. Also, watching YouTubers who explain anxiety and reading self-help books can provide helpful ways to manage your own anxiety.

The second thing is, if you don't believe in subliminals, I don't know why people do this, but if you don't have faith in something or assume it doesn't work for you, just use something you have a little faith in. For example, maybe you're more logical. You can read about brain waves and then listen to binaural beats for anxiety,manifesting, and faith. Have faith in it, because you'll understand and know that those waves genuinely change your brain's alignment. That's just one example, but subliminals are not the only type of audios out there. There are many other methods to explore.

Also, meditation is very helpful. Not just to reach the void, but do you know how many conscious thoughts we have in a day? On average, it is estimated that a person has around 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. These thoughts can range from conscious, deliberate thoughts to automatic, repetitive thoughts. That doesn't even include the number of unconscious thoughts we have, which is probably 100k+. You constantly have these little things running around in your head, trying to keep you alive, keeping you repeating the same thought patterns, beliefs, and assumptions. You can't consciously control them most of the time, but your brain and mind are working overtime 24/7. It's not your fault, so that's why meditation can help you. Not just to reach the void, though you can tap into that using some form of meditation as well, but to clear your mind and then it’s there it will be better to affirm and believe you can do whatever you desire. If you're not truly embodying the desired state, which you're not because you sent this ask, do you think a few measly affirmations can counteract the hundreds of thousands of thoughts you've been having every day since birth, most of which you don't even know exist? Affirmations do work, but trust me, I've been where you're at and worse. This is not the state to solely rely on "miracle affirmations" because you won't believe them, and when something doesn't happen, you'll just want to give up and confirmation bias will make you subconsciously think, "Well, see? I knew it. It isn’t real" But in reality, your mind is just looking for proof to align with your negative beliefs.

I know you say you haven't manifested anything, but can you really think back to something you thought was a "coincidence" or something you didn't really ask for but it just appeared? We usually brush those off as just the world at play or a small world, but nope, that was you. Maybe you don't have clear skin or whatever your desire may be, but as you probably know, that's because you've put it on a pedestal compared to all the other "small" but great things you've manifested

I know you probably wanted me to tell you exactly what to do, but I genuinely don't know you the way you know yourself - your own self, mind, and behaviors. You know best, fr! I could have said anything I've said before, like imagination is the real reality, the 3D being malleable, if you can see and feel it you can manifest it, try SATs or lucid dreaming lalala. But I've learned that you know what you have to do. Sit and meditate to learn about yourself and your mind, and why you think what you think. What past experiences do you still hold onto, reliving them in your mind and creating assumptions that no longer serve you? They can still affect you, we are humans and emotions cling to us like bees to honey, and that's okay. But we need to start moving those experiences into the past and start creating with what we are now, which is the present. Any given moment is a time to say, 'Okay, this doesn't serve me anymore, and this does. I don't want this life anymore, I want this type of life,' and consciously start creating with those desires instead.

Acknowledge your doubts, they're just doubts, and they're really just an extension of life factors that have been slowly consuming your mind. You may have them, but as a god, do you have them? No. But as a human, you are influenced by them, and who cares? You know who you are and your power now, so if you disregard them, work around them. But I can't tell you what to do because I'm not you! I wholeheartedly believe that you will get through this because I have as well and the lows are just apart of your journey as the success as corny as it sounds. But when you do succeed I promise you’ll back to this movement and just be very happy you didn’t give up despite how hard it was 💝

[burstbubbbles]

things im noticing as i rewatch bnha, an ongoing thread:

SEASON 1

- deku really was such a nerd lmao he's just like me fr (like i KNEW but i didn't remember how much i could relate to it. oops.)

- it's also interesting that he always fights back against bakugo and calls him an idiot a lot. idk why (probably because of fandom characterization) i remembered early-seasons deku as a lot more innocent and scared of bakugo. like, here's the thing, deku is scared of pretty much everything at the start because he's shy/anxious. he gets nervous talking to most of his classmates (especially, but not only, girls) when he first meets them and starts trembling when he gets elected as class president before handing the role to iida. so basically, his anxiety isn't reserved to bakugo like i remembered – if anything, he seems to get over his fear of getting bullied by him pretty quickly once he realizes he can fight back.

- kaminari tried to ask uraraka out in their first or second day of school and she was like "uhhh i like to eat... uhh... WAIT DEKU CAME BACK FROM THE NURSE'S OFFICE" lol i really didn't remember that

- bakugo's insecurity was always there. as you're reading this you might be thinking i first watched mha with my eyes closed or sth, and you're not very far from the truth. here's the thing, i first watched it when i was like 14-15, so all i knew back then was that bakugo was insufferable and i didn't think further than that. of course, he ended up becoming one of my favorite bnha characters after reading all of the manga, but it's cool to realize his character arc was foreshadowed from the beginning and didn't just magically start around season 3.

- but yeah, anyway, bakugo's insecurity and his envy over deku's natural noble nature was always there, since season 1. also, deku's real admiration over bakugo was also there. like, going back to my other point, deku wasn't just Not Overly Scared of bakugo, he actually looked up to him despite knowing he was deeply flawed. tbh they were always a bit crazy about each other.

- uraraka is so funny i love her.

- all of class 1A was so chaotic good coded

- like they collectively made fun of bakugo on the bus to USJ for being rude lol. they really bonded over their shared dislike for the guy.

- bakugo gets fucking HUMBLED all of s1. i would also be irrationally angry ngl.

- the dialogues in the first season sometimes are so unnatural for the sake of exposition, like all might telling recovery girl: "do you mind not talking so loudly ab OFA? only you, a close friend, the principal, and midoriya know about OFA. but most professors and some pro heroes also know about my condition and not being able to fight for more than 3 hours a day" like WHO TALKS LIKE THAT ??!1?1?

- deku had to go to recovery girl's office a total of 4 times (if i counted correctly) for broken limbs of fingers in HIS FIRST WEEK of school. which is funnier considering no one else from class 1A had to go even once.

- damn shigaraki was a skinny legend before he got OP

- aizawa did not react at all when he first saw kurogiri (about the shirakumo thing). that was surprising.

- also. AIZAWA IS SO BADASS?? like yes i knew he was badass from the later seasons, but i genuinely didn't remember his first fighting sequence at USJ where he single-handedly fights like at least 20 villains.

- i had also forgotten that shigaraki calls eraserhead "really cool" so early on in the anime, i thought it was a later-seasons thing.

- this is really obvious but i had forgotten the all might theme's resemblance to superman's theme. it's such a cool little detail tho!

- uraraka and deku definitely were crushing on each other when they first met, but i think it's nice that they ended up developing a really strong friendship instead of getting together after hori didn't consistently develop them romantically. it also makes a lot more sense narratively, like why would we care who deku ends up with at the end of his first year of UA when the story actually ends 8 years after that, and it's very unlikely that you marry the same person you started dating when you were 15. idk, i liked that. i like that you can have two characters who maybe have a crush on each other but can't focus on that due to Circumstances and eventually move on and become good friends. it's a win for the platonic department!

- the animation was kinda bad in the first season 😭 but it's understandable and i had fun watching it regardless.

okay im done with s1 tune in for s2 !!

[jessamine-rose]

Platonic! Yandere Ortho

IMPORTANT NOTE: These are purely platonic headcanons of how Ortho would help Yandere! Idia. This is based on his devious side shown in his Dorm SSR, Ghost Marriage, and the Main Story. Spoiler warnings for Ch6!!

Tw:: yandere, stalking, manipulation

♡ In terms of power, Idia is one of the worst yanderes to deal with. Social weaknesses aside, he has many skills at his disposal. His magical abilities, his technological prowess…..…and his secret weapon Ortho.

♡ After months of gathering data, Ortho’s AI has come to the conclusion that you and his brother are a perfect match. The compatibility charts go haywire every time he witnesses your interactions—your genuine smiles, Idia’s pink flames, the mutual interests which fuel your conversations. The main issue is that only Idia’s body scan shows the physical symptoms of infatuation.

♡ Normally, Ortho disapproves of cheat codes. His brother’s obsessive actions will surely lead to a Bad Ending and more trouble after their S.T.Y.X. debacle. But after considering the factors at play—the love rivals, Idia’s limited choices, your plans to leave their world—he decides that it’s best to help his brother.

♡ And so Ortho takes on the equally twisted Support Role!! From the shadows, he assists Idia by hacking your devices and NRC’s security cameras. He uses your personal data to predict your reactions, learn your preferences, and come up with perfect algorithms. As for his brother’s love rivals, he can easily generate fake messages and calls from their SNS accounts.

♡ He also helps Idia in real life. You’re more likely to join their family gaming nights if Ortho is the one who invites you. He will tell you all about his brother’s achievements and facilitate love flag scenarios between the two of you. How could you suspect him of foul play?

♡ No matter how low the probability, all it takes is a 0.0001% chance to upgrade a relationship. Your Happy Ending is practically written in the stars, judging by the upward graphs in Ortho’s computations. He will do whatever it takes to ensure his brother’s happiness and make you a part of their family.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Your blog is my guilty pleasure lol, it's so validating to read your very matter of fact rebuttals after years of being talked over & down to in the fandom. Being in the fan space & hearing the way people talked about how much more "female gaze coded" Z/tara was made me feel like I was betraying other women by not liking Zuko or Zutara the way "real mature" women did.

Funniest thing is, when i watched the show as a kid as an older sister, someone with talent/skills that nobody else understood, a girl who felt she had to be mature all the time, Kataang instantly became my otp. Katara was living my dream of a fun, cute boy sweeping me off my feet, telling me I was special and going on a magical journey with me-- I had the HUGEST crush on Aang as a little girl. It was so lame growing older and hearing near constantly from the fandom how stupid and unbelievable the idea that Katara actually had feelings for Aang was, and how it's a "male" (aka: bad) fantasy, when honestly Zuko's angsty ass was far from dream boyfriend material in my opinion it made me feel gaslit fjhdidjskj.

Genuine Z/tara fans are fine, I totally get the appeal of the red/blue enemies to lovers sparks fly ship, but the meanest and loudest of your crewmates and the way they act like their tastes are the Correct ones has been just. ridiculous for many years. And why do those types always feel the need to start the conversation by bashing Kataang every single time?? I started with a positive opinion of their ship when I entered the fandom as a teen, even liked a few arts and whatnot as a "what-if," but all the nonsense has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

So yeah, thanks for this space to complain about the experiences we've had lol. I've had one too many conversations about ATLA & how good it is interrupted with the other person going "well except for the Main Romance, that was shit and Z/tara should have been endgame" not to be Worn Out. Like if in their opinion the show is *perfect* except that One thing.... maybe the problem lies elsewhere?

Yup, that's definitely a pattern I noticed: zutarians are SO many and SO loud, that even though a pretty large part of the fandom disagrees with their takes (regardless of enjoying the canon ships or not) most of them just... didn't talk about it because they didn't want to be harrassed or talked down to or be hit with the "well, we are the majority therefore we're right" argument.

It's part of why I was innitially shocked at how much support this blog got. I thought I just gonna be in my own little bubble of the fandom, but nope, I got sooooo many messages of "FINALLY! Somebody said it!"

And looking back, I should've noticed something was off. There's a reason ATLA's ending was not one of these disasters that basically nukes and kills 90% of the fandom and live in infamy as one of the worst falls from grace ever, How I Met Your Mother style, even though both shows had the fan favorite ship not end together.

It wasn't just that one was well-written and the other wasn't (though that clearly affected the audience and critical reception of these endings, both at the time and through the decades).

HIMYM was a case of "The actual endgame ship was loathed by nearly everyone while the rival pairings were almost universally beloved."

ATLA was a case of "70% of the fandom likes this ship - of these fans, 25% are multishipers that also like the canon ships, 25% only like the ship in fanfic but don't actually want it to be a thing, 25% loves it but can accept it not being canon at point because they acknowledge it'd be rushed, and the 25% are the ones that would burn down Bryke's house if they could, so in reality only a fraction of the fandom didn't accept the Kataang/Maiko endgame, while the overwhelming majority was either happy about it or indifferent to it"

And that's without taking into account that Avatar got new popularity boosts through the years that lead to plenty of people that had Zutara being hyped up for years being disappointed when they realized "Oh, it was popular because of fanon shit, not because it actually would have made sense story-wise" or people who reached that same conclusion after rewatching the show.

I think that's why Zutarians have such a victim complex and want to pretend Bryke and Kataang/Maiko fans are "oppressing" them - they've been dominating the conversation for years, and not only got no results out of it, they're now losing that "leverage" too. They're no longer in an echo-chamber, they need to use actual arguments that make sense if they want their opinion to be almost universal and they just can't do it because their ship was never that good to begin with.

[springofdrownedmillenial]

***This post contains heavy spoilers for the Ryugenzawa Arc and the Nodoka storyline through Chapter 384. English scans read left-to-right and Japanese scans right-to-left. Sorry!***

In chapter 275 of Ranma 1/2, Ranma tells a rival for Akane's affections to "take care of her" before leaping to almost certain death. Pretty standard stuff, a staple scene of action movies everywhere, right before the hero sacrifices himself to save the girl he loves. Except that the macho bravado of the moment is subverted by the fact that Rumiko Takahashi renders Ranma's physical form, in this scene, as a beautiful, sorrowing girl.

Sapphic overtones aside, this moment has stayed with me because it holds the series' ideas about gender conformity, and specifically masculinity, up for inspection. Throughout the series, Ranma is preoccupied with being a "real man" and is famously out of touch with his emotions. Most of the time this character trait is played for laughs, but the series does hold a fair number of moments when Ranma expresses genuine vulnerability, and oftentimes Takahashi draws Ranma going through these scenarios in his girl form.

Before I go further, it is worth mentioning that I am by no means claiming Ranma is in his girl form any time he displays emotion or moments of vulnerability, or that vulnerability is the only kind of emotion girl-Ranma displays. Rather, I am saying that Takahashi, as a storyteller, often makes use of the gender swap device to heighten the emotional impact of a scene and that, moreover, the emotions that Ranma bodily expresses as a boy often differ in their association with gendered attributes than the ones he expresses as a girl. As a boy, Ranma expresses anger, belligerence, confusion, comically rendered fear - all "active," masculine-coded feelings. On the other hand, during moments of sadness, uncertainty, acquiescence, or some sense of loss, when they are not played for laughs or as a setup to a gag, he is often drawn as a girl. Even though Ranma is constantly trying to return to being a "real" man, Takahashi repeatedly undercuts the idea that this is a good and worthwhile thing to aspire to.

I won't get into what makes a "real man" here, but it's pretty easy to pick up on; as it turns out, the rules of heteronormative Japanese masculinity are a lot like the American ones: boys don't show weakness, boys don't back down or admit when they're wrong, boys don't show sadness or fear, and above all they don't eat girly stuff like yogurt parfaits.

Takahashi gets around the rules of masculinity by having Ranma embody vulnerability in a female body. This is both a loophole and a subversion. As a girl, Ranma is now "allowed" to show certain emotions, just like he is "allowed" to eat parfaits without inviting social judgement when in his female body. But since his gender identity remains male, he is still a boy eating the parfait, having these emotions. What makes his female-bodied vulnerability interesting is how it later affects his ability or willingness to express "un-manly" emotions while in his male body.

So, to return to Chapter 275: The thing is, Takahashi could have easily drawn Ranma as a boy in this panel. It would have been easy to insert a shot of him turning back into a boy via a Magically Appearing Kettle. As I stated earlier, this scene could have played like a macho action movie, with one guy "handing over" his girlfriend to another guy before sacrificing himself. And if Ranma were in his boy form when saying this line, it would definitely strengthen that read. You can easily imagine him delivering the line with a kind of macho stoicism and fortitude. But he doesn't. He delivers the line in his girl form, and what’s more Takahashi ramps up the ante here and draws him as downright beautiful. His features are exaggerated to emphasize femininity, with a small, rounded face shape and a delicately pointed chin. Ranma's eyes are huge, and light reflections take up most of the pupils, giving them a luminous appearance. This panel directly follows two shots of Akane and Ranma gazing at each other without speaking, and because the line is delivered so quietly, paired with Ranma's hyper-feminine appearance and expression, it locks the reader into the emotional intensity of the moment. In this moment, we're not thinking about Orochi. We're looking at Ranma mourning the loss of his relationship with Akane.

Remember that Ranma is under the understandable, if mistaken, impression that Akane has effectively tossed him over and chosen Shinnosuke as her new beau. This scene is not subtle about reinforcing the misunderstanding. Shinnosuke kept pace with Ranma in rescuing Akane from Orochi, he's sitting right next to her as she wakes up. In this panel Ranma is accepting and respecting what he thinks is Akane's decision to be with someone else, and this setup makes Ranma and Akane's reunification in the next chapter all the more impactful and romantic.

 Without this panel, would we have gotten that final scene – surely one of the loveliest in the whole series – of Ranma mentally rehearsing all the things he wants to say to Akane and reaching for her hand? I would argue no. While Ranma was plenty upset after Akane first slapped him and shedding his feelings all over the place, in his boy form he expressed himself angrily, petulantly, and childishly - and that was when he wasn't repressing his emotions altogether. That's not the behavior of someone who possesses great emotional maturity. It is only after this scene that he is able, as a boy, to speak sincerely. And I would argue that it's largely because of his vulnerability in this scene that he’s eventually able to at least try to connect emotionally with Akane without hiding behind a lot of bluster and insults.

The tug of war between machismo and vulnerability comes to the fore even more strongly in the long Nodoka subarc that runs through the second half of the series. In a nutshell, Ranma's long-lost mother reappears in his life and is eager to reunite with Ranma, but with a catch: if Ranma hasn't grown up to be a "completely manly," then both Ranma and Genma will be held to a promise to commit ritual suicide. By conventional definitions, Ranma, obviously, is not 100% male and, faced with the prospect of literal death, meets with his mother as Akane's made-up cousin "Ranko," all the while dreaming of the day he can reunite with Nodoka as his real self.

The chapters involving Nodoka are gag-based and comical, and largely turn on ever more preposterous scenarios in which Ranma must constantly switch between his male and female bodies. One of the more serious arcs in this subplot involves Kumon Ryuu, a boy who impersonates Ranma and moves into Nodoka's house after convincing her he is her son. Ranma, of course, fights Ryuu in order to reclaim his name and identity. This arc is poignant and, unlike most other Nodoka arcs, played mostly as a dramatic storyline, because Takahashi makes no bones about how much Ranma loves his mother. This is the one relationship that Ranma wants and pursues without any kind of bluster or contrariness. He doesn't pretend that he doesn't want to see Nodoka. He doesn't rebuff her with rudeness or insensitive remarks. Ranma makes it clear that his mother is important to him and that he will go to extraordinary lengths to be in her life and have a connection with her.

Although Ranma ultimately defeats Ryuu in combat, there are two panels show how much of a pyrrhic victory this is. After the battle, Ranma get punted into a water trough (as one does) and, in his girl form, hides behind a pile of rubble while Nodoka confronts Ryuu.  We see clearly how dejected Ranma is in this scene. Even though he is drawn in the foreground, Takahashi makes him look small next to the mound of dirt, and the way he is positioned, hunching down, hugging his knees, makes him look even tinier. He just looks really lonely and really sad, listening to his mother speak so gently to a boy who is not himself.

In the second panel, Ranma, still sitting in the same position, now looks even tinier, as the panel is drawn from an aerial perspective with Ryuu in the foreground and Ranma in the middle ground. Ryuu advises him to tell Nodoka the truth before departing for good. This is such a heartbreaking conclusion to this arc: Despite the physical and inner ordeals he has endured for his mother's sake, in the end he is reduced to hiding himself away, unable to either reveal himself or speak the truth. Emotionally, this is one of Ranma's lowest points, and once again, because the rules of masculinity preclude Ranma from expressing sincere dejection in a male body, Takahashi makes use of his female body and emphasizes his smallness to visually convey his emotional state.

Unlike in the Ryugenzawa arc, Ranma's display of vulnerability in his girl form doesn't lead to an emotional breakthrough in his boy form, as he remains a girl for the rest of the arc, which concludes on the next page. But it is striking that Ryuu, an antagonist and total outsider to Ranma's long-running drama, should be so insightful into the whole situation. He doesn't tell Ranma to 'man up' or to find a cure. He sees what is outwardly a forlorn girl and says, simply, 'tell the truth.' Whatever beliefs Ranma has about the "right" way to present himself to his mother doesn't matter. The truth is what matters. For his part, Ranma absorbs Ryuu's advice without a word, and it is perhaps telling that although it will take another 85(!!) chapters before the Nodoka subplot is finally resolved, Nodoka only appears in three more storylines in between. This moment is really the beginning of the end for this whole rigamarole.

This scene also shows how exhausting it is to keep up the ruse. It is stressful to have to pretend to be someone else in order to keep a relationship with a loved one. It must also be so emotionally taxing to be thwarted every time you work up the nerve to tell the truth, just as it must be to have terror of the consequences of outing yourself almost involuntarily override your desire to connect.

And indeed, it all comes to a head in the subplot's concluding arc. Ranma, in his girl form, finds himself continuously confronting Genma, who as usual wants to prevent him from revealing the truth to Nodoka, and running away from Nodoka herself. Finally, Genma knocks him out, and when he regains consciousness he hazily sees Nodoka bending over him, holding a water kettle. Instinctively, Ranma splits the kettle open with a leg slash, only to discover it is empty. Ranma and Nodoka face each other for a moment before Ranma runs off.

The only way I can describe Ranma's expression in this panel is "devastated." The position of his eyebrows really makes this a unique expression. Whatever boy Ranma's mental state, be it confusion, smugness, or shock, his brows are usually furrowed downwards, suggesting dominance, control, and assertiveness. Here, however, they're arched much less sharply, opening up his whole face.

As he runs away, Ranma expresses fear that his mother has discovered the secret to his transformation. That's certainly a reason to be devastated. However, I also read this moment as being the horrible, worst-case culmination of all the stress Ranma has been under so far. He has become so panicked and worn down that he is lashing out, however inadvertently, at the one person he is desperate to please, and once again Takahashi uses his female form to visually communicate that Ranma is at his lowest emotional point.

But all is not lost! Somewhat beautifully, Takahashi shows that girl Ranma is also a conduit of positive vulnerability. In the next chapter, Ranma (still in his girl form) wakes up from a nightmare and immediately has to evade an attack from Genma. Genma reminds him that if he tells Nodoka the truth, both of them will have to commit seppuku. It's the same old go-around; we have seen this exchange before, and we know what's coming next: Ranma's going to declare that he's going to meet his mom anyway, and Nodoka will show up, and Ranma will reflexively chicken out and turn into his girl form.

This time, however, Ranma does something unexpected. He says, with a smile on his face, "Dad...I wanna stop lying already." He looks completely at peace, and it's clear that following the harrowing confrontation with his mother, Ranma's outlook has irrevocably shifted. His desire to reunite with Nodoka is finally more powerful than his fear of death, and he will accept whatever consequences may come, so long as he can meet with his mother honestly.

In contrast to how he is drawn in the Ryugenzawa arc, Ranma's face here is almost a blend of masculine and feminine features. His jawline is stronger and his eyes sit higher on the face, giving him a less exaggerated, delicate look. If his boy and girl forms were combined into one body, this is how he might appear, and his harmonized features reflect the resolution of his inner turmoil.

Once again, in a world where kettles of hot water can and do appear out of thin air, Takahashi could easily have had Ranma deliver this line in his male form. I think that she doesn't because it is important to show Ranma breaking the cycle of deception and evasion that Genma has trapped him in up until now. He's not responding with aggression this time, but rather with peace and acceptance and a new-found moral conviction. He dials down the energy; he's not doing this anymore. This is, as much as anything, an assertion of independence from his father's influence: Ranma has found his own way forward and is no longer going to let the terms of his relationship with Nodoka be dictated by fear and cowardice.

The payoff comes in the arc's climactic scene when Ranma, now in his male body, rescues Nodoka after she falls off a cliff. Mother and son are finally reunited face-to-face and, in a really touching detail, Ranma's long-awaited reunion plays out totally differently than how he has fantasized. Instead of being a cool and composed tower of manly virility, welcoming his mother into his manly arms, Ranma starts to cry and clings to Nodoka while burying his head in her shoulder. It is a pure, cathartic, completely unmanly display of emotion, and this time Ranma does it all while in a male body.

Amazingly, Ranma goes even further in trying to express himself. We see his inner monologue as he urges himself to tell Nodoka that he was Ranko, and even starts to say so out loud before he is stopped by - of course - Genma. This is a critical character development moment because, having just performed a heroic rescue, he quite honestly doesn't have to tell the truth. He could have hustled Nodoka back up to safety and just tried extra hard to remain male for the rest of the day. But he commits to his own words: He wants to stop lying. He wants to present his whole self to Nodoka, and that includes the non-masculine parts of his identity.

In the series, so much of the characters' time is preoccupied with policing gender conformity, which is not unsurprising for a gender-bender series. Ranma is inundated with comments about how a man should behave and he shouldn't behave, how he should think and how he shouldn't think, which emotions are appropriate and which ones are not. Ranma puts himself into a bind because for the most part he subscribes to this model of masculinity, and indeed until relatively recently he was nearly the perfect embodiment of it. But being "100% manly" just sends Ranma into a vicious cycle of misunderstandings and arguments and isolates him from the people he loves. The hard lesson he learns is that when he actually taps into "weaker," "unmanly" feelings, he's able to break out of this unproductive cycle and move forward to achieve his goals.

Although Ranma’s quest is to regain his manhood, we are not meant to cheer on Ranma's displays of machismo. The takeaway from Ranma's moments of vulnerability is not that it's ok to show emotions so long as you appear to be a girl. It is that heteronormative masculinity is so restrictive and so repressive that it cuts off outlets of healthy, human emotional expression. It is both futile and harmful to keep chasing after a type of masculinity that isn't really realistic to embody and still retain a sense of an emotionally whole self. Ranma isn't just a tough guy. He has deep reserves of sensitivity. He is sad sometimes. He feels heartbreak deeply. He is a boy who just wants his mother.

[meowtus]

Project Meridian yap sesh 😭 spoilers (obviously) ahead !!

This was one of those things where I was like “yeah….I had a feeling this could’ve been the ending Project Meridian’s leaning towards,” but I wasn’t expecting the EXTENT of just how little we really know about the real versions of these characters.

A part of me kind of wishes that we did keep the robot-sci-fi thing, and having an android listener was cool but I can understand why the other route was gone. Though I could see how the storyline could’ve been fit into the main storyline—it would get a little complicated. But Project Meridian was a CRAZY ride. Had my brain turning and I was second guessing everything. Like the Marcus Code, the Asset being a test of the waters in the Meridian, THE DREAM ITSELF & THE SEPARATION OF REALITYY ??? 10/10 would like to experience for the first time again.

But I think the distinct moment when magic started getting vaguely involved within Project Meridian now is like—SUPER different contextually than before (when I inevitably go to relisten). Like the real-world experiences with magic within Asset’s memory bleeding into something that should’ve remained a disconnected reality. And Marcus…Mark? Marc??? Lord knows anyway

His character just got like A MILLION times more interesting knowing he’s a dreamwalker. And that he had control over the dream for a while, before things got out of control. Did at what point did he realize that the dream was out of his hands?? URGHH it’s fascinating. Also the loneliness and still seeking it through a person who 1. Does NOT remember jack about doing any of this 2. Genuinely believes they’re a robot and is programmed to like you is SO messed up, and even though he’s lost that grip on the Asset’s dream—he didn’t want to leave or stop the dream from getting to the extent it did. And they FREAKED IT IN THE DREAMM?? Vro. I hope we get more of him later because that’s a crazy bag of worms. He’s a looser…what a guy amirite 😭

But hands down I think the coolest part about all this is James. Well, both James versions, and how the Asset’s views on them distorted him in the dream. James turning out to be some guy™️ working for the department in contrast to the cold, calculated, put-together variant is amazing and I’ll think about it forever.

Peak Cinema…thank you Mr. Redacted for the meal 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[theflagscene]

Don’t know if this is legit or not, but…

Firstly, how would that even work? If this is legit it’s probably more about the idea of mpreg than anything else, like the author is saying: lower your expectations, ain’t no butt babies happening.

Which, fine, cool, don’t wanna slap a fake belly on Pavel, don’t. But removing the whole idea of characters being able to be impregnated leaves a massive plot hole in the second season, more so than bringing back characters that have died. Which is the fact that Tony’s entire human trafficking story was built about the idea of breeding more special alphas, omegas and enigmas to sell. Which is why he wanted Way to get Babe pregnant, that was laid out plain and simple, full stop, period. Massive part of the plot, really the only plot if you think about it. It was the driving force behind everything, behind most of the character’s story arcs.

But beyond that! If this is true and not just some rumor—please be a rumor—I’ll be disappointed because I truly enjoyed seeing a non gendered stance to the idea of genetic childbearing. Not for the A/B/O elements but just for the fact that it’s so rarely seen in media and when it is, it’s usually played off for laughs. In the 1990’s there were quite a few big budget comedies about cis males being pregnant, but it was always show in a really rude and occasionally misogynistic way. I personally liked how Pit Babe treated male pregnancies like it was just a normal thing, it wasn’t some odd kink or whatnot, it was just a part of the universe the series was set in.

When Charlie asks Babe if he wants children and Babe laughs about it because they’re both Alphas and not because they were both cis males, that scene felt really important. Yes, I know the series had omegaverse elements but it never felt that way really—at least to me—besides the use of the fanfic subgendered terminology, what was truly unique was seeing male characters facing threats that are so commonplace (and often fetishized) for female characters.

The threat of various sex crimes, human trafficking, date rape (Way using his powers on Babe was very GHB coded), forced impregnation, forced marriages, basically being seen as nothing more than childbearing chattel.

Whilst some of those things males do face in real life situations, obviously, I’m speaking about specifically in media. In television and movies those things are rarely shown as something that happens to anyone that isn’t a woman, typically younger women and little girls. So yeah, the silly gay racing show actually held some serious weight to it. And those actors worked their butts off to make it all seem genuine, to make the horrors their characters were facing seem real. And as men, probably half of the things their characters faced had never even crossed their minds in real life. But they made it real, they didn’t act stupid about the idea of Babe getting pregnant, they were properly horrified at the idea of Tony wanting him to be a breedmare for a trafficking ring, and Babe was absolutely heartbroken and terrified to find that someone who claimed to be his friend just wanted into his pants!

I know I make jokes, talk about slick sliding around and butt babies, etc. But you gotta understand, I spent nearly 20 years in the Supernatural fandom, I was there when A/B/O basically became mainstream and no longer something barely remembered from a monster of the week episode of Star Trek. So yeah, I make jokes about that shit, because I’m a grizzled old fandom veteran who was there when the magic was written.

But on a deeper level, on a human level, on a queer level—and as someone with absolutely amazing transgendered life partners, I found Pit Babe’s non gendered stance on pregnancy really beautiful.